Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, October 27, 1943. First flight of the RB-1.

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, October 27, 1943. Navy Day.: 

Wednesday, October 27, 1943. Navy Day.

The first stainless steel airplane, the RB-1 Conestoga, made its first flight.

Only twenty were made.

Argentine Col. Juan Perón agreed  to direct the nation's Department of Labor.

Junkers-Larson 12. A ground attack aircraft from 1921.

I posted these photos the other day on our companion blog, Lex Anteinternet

Gen. Mitchell was checking out aircraft.

Thompson submachine guns made the press

Lt. Gen. Wise & Lt. Brooks Hyde-Pierson, 10/21/21

I didn't realize at the time I did this, that these were photographs of the same thing.  One Junkers JL12 ground attack aircraft.

It's hard not to view this as anything other than "goofball", but then this was in the early days of aviation and there was a lot of experimentation going on.

The Junkers-Larson 12 was a militarized version of the Junkers F13, the world's first all metal transport aircraft.  The origins of the F13 actually extended back to World War One, but its first flight came in 1919, so it came too late to see service in the war.  Obviously, it represented a big step forward in aircraft design, so perhaps it isn't too surprising that it was militarized pretty quickly.

If oddly.

The aircraft was equipped with 30 Thompson Submachine Guns.  They were operated by single levers in two batteries, with most of them firing straight down.

The Thompson was brand new that year, although its origins also dated back to World War One, for which it had been designed, but which it missed seeing service in as the early variants didn't come out until 1919.  1921 was the first year of real production.

Hap Arnold with Liberty V12 engine.

The JL-12 was equipped with a Liberty V 12 engine, which may explain its name.

Did anyone buy them?  

Well, I don't know.  It was an interesting idea that foreshadowed later aircraft like Douglas AC-47 Spooky and the Lockheed AC-130, so the whole concept wasn't as absurd as it at first might strike us.  The problem would have been that Thompson's in .45 ACP wouldn't have really given the advantage of altitude that an aircraft needs.  If many were made, it probably wasn't very many.

Shoot, I'd try it. . . The Airplane Restaurant

 The Airplane Restaurant in Colorado Springs, built in a converted KC-97.

The other side of big commercial air travel. United Cargo, Denver Colorado

Wyoming Air National Gaurd C130 Static Display, Cheyenne Wyoming

The Wyoming Air National Guard has this C130 on a static display at their gate at the Cheyenne Regional Air Port.  Cheyenne's airport is a major air national guard base.

FedEx at night

"C-130 on the taxiway"

"C-130 on the taxiway"

Things you see at the airport: British Antarctic Survey Plane

Things you see at the airport: British Antarctic Survey Plane

Pacific Aviation Museum: C-47

Pacific Aviation Museum: C-47

C47 that was used for air cargo, post war, and is now being rebuilt into its original configuration.

Aircraft bone yard, Greybull Wyoming

More things you run into at the airport

Privateer, converted into a firebomber, in Greybull Wyoming, along with flying boxcar and the air liner version of the B29.

Back at the same airport, a couple of years later:

Former RCAF flying boxcar.

This is a Lockheed Electra, a classic aircraft that's associated with Amelia Earhart, as that's what she was flying on her tragic transglobe flight.

Boeing C-17 Globemaster III

C-17 Globemaster III. Click for Larger

This is the C-17 Globemaster III, a larger military transport aircraft.

This specific one, serial 0185, is a  Boeing C-17A Lot XII Globemaster II, and is named "Spirit of America". The "0" in front of "185" may indicate a ten year old aircraft.

Denver Aircraft Museum

Denver Aircraft Museum